Sudan: Blue Nile Fighting Displaces Nearly 20,000 in Two Days

Nearly 20,000 people have been displaced in Sudan’s Blue Nile state over just two days, a local relief group said on Sunday, as fighting escalates following the seizure of two army bases by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their rebel allies.

The Geissan Emergency Room said the City 12 area of Geissan locality was experiencing a new wave of displacement involving both residents and civilians who had already been displaced once and were living in shelters. Initial estimates put “the number of displaced people approaching 20,000, including families, children, women and elderly people,” the group said in a statement carried by Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.

01 Where the displaced are going

The displaced have scattered across several areas, including Shira, Abu Qami and Al-Hilla Al-Qadima, as well as Wad Al-Mahi locality to the east, the emergency room said. Others headed to shelters in Damazin, the state capital.

Displaced families face “dire humanitarian conditions” amid acute shortages of shelter materials and basic necessities, the group said. It urged humanitarian organizations and local and international bodies to intervene urgently.

The flight follows two days of escalating fighting in the state after the RSF and its ally, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), attacked several areas.

02 After the fall of two bases

This article updates The Rio Times’ reporting from Saturday. On Friday the RSF said its fighters, alongside the SPLM-N, had seized the Bakori and Surkum army bases southeast of Damazin — rendered “Sirkam” by Anadolu. The army has not confirmed the loss; it said it repelled a joint attack in the Fazogli district and on Saturday sent an “Elite Brigade” toward Bakori.

Independent confirmation of who holds the two bases remains unavailable. Fighting in Blue Nile, which borders Ethiopia and South Sudan, has displaced more than 100,000 people this year even before the latest wave, according to humanitarian reporting.

03 Killings west of Bara

In a separate incident in North Kordofan state, the Sudanese Doctors Network said RSF fighters attacked the villages of Al-Qaa and Al-Kawakiti, west of the town of Bara, on Saturday, killing five civilians, Sudan Tribune reported.

The Dar Hamar Emergency Room, a local volunteer group, had earlier reported four civilians killed in the same area, accusing RSF fighters of looting property and terrorizing residents. It also reported injuries and missing persons, without giving figures, and appealed to the Sudanese Red Crescent for urgent help.

The attacks are distinct from Thursday’s drone strikes in the Sowdari district of the same state, which killed eight civilians and wounded dozens, according to the Emergency Lawyers group. Bara sits on the Omdurman-El Obeid road, which the army said it had fully secured in late July — a claim Sudan Tribune cautioned might not hold.

04 The wider war

Sudan’s war between the army and the RSF began in April 2023 and has displaced around 13 million people, according to United Nations estimates, with tens of thousands killed.

The army holds Khartoum and most of northern, eastern and central Sudan. The RSF holds most of Darfur and is pressing in the Kordofan region and now in Blue Nile, where its alliance with the SPLM-N — a rebel movement rooted in the state — has opened a front the army had largely avoided earlier in the war.

Sources: Anadolu Agency – Nearly 20,000 displaced by escalating fighting in Sudan’s Blue Nile, 30 August 2026, Sudan Tribune – Sudan doctors’ group accuses RSF of killing 5 civilians west of Bara, Anadolu Agency – Civilians killed in RSF attacks in North Kordofan, 29 August 2026

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error